


Minders

by mayoho



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Agent Cooper has a whole weird gang of people who are watching out for him, Gen, Season 2 Episode 11, episode 18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 22:12:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14029905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayoho/pseuds/mayoho
Summary: Special Agent Cooper may be oblivious to it, but he leaves a trail of loyalty wherever he goes. Albert has to deal with the consequences.





	Minders

Albert will never understand what he needs to do to stop people from intruding in his goddamn lab while he’s in the middle of a goddamn autopsy. He’s made an art out of being unpleasant and caustic but the FBI seems to recruit people with a certain degree of resistance. 

Agent Roger Hardy should not be in his lab. Albert glares. 

Hardy puts his hands up in mock surrender.

“I’m on a tight schedule, Agent Hardy.” It’s even true--Gordon had asked him to report to his office “IMMEDIATELY UPON COMPLETION OF THIS AUTOPSY”. There had been a worrying tightness to Gordon’s voice under his typical flat shout. This kind of summon could only spell trouble and overtime, and--at this particular junction--Windom Earle. 

“I won’t waste your time then.” Hardy is blandly pleasant. “I met with Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks.”

Albert raises his eyebrows. As far as he’s concerned, the investigation is horse shit, and also not his concern. Cooper has always attracted a certain amount of flac for being such a Boy Scout. That and his competency tended to make anyone that had ever done anything unsavory nervous. 

Hardy taps the tips of his fingers together. “I’m concerned about Dale’s reaction to the investigation. 

“I’m not Cooper’s minder.” Albert is reminded of the time Diane had told him, with a wolfish smile, that she is far scarier than he could ever hope to be.

“He’s not mounting a defence. Said he knew the moves that he was supposed to make, but he was looking beyond the board.”

“You’ve met Coop. He knows what he’s done wrong and is willing to accept the consequences. As for the rest of it, he has a disturbing amount of faith that the truth will come out in the wash. You can’t possibly believe Cooper would be involved in selling cocaine, and to teenagers.”

“I’m more interested in what I can prove than what I believe.” Hardy shakes his head. There was a reason he and Cooper got along. “That’s not what I came here for. Agent Cooper seemed--I hesitate to say distracted--focused on something else. Is there something I should know about?”

 _Windom Earle_. But if Hardy doesn’t already know about that Gordon must be keeping it under wraps, and even though he’s a duplicitous sonofabitch, Albert trusts Gordon. 

“That’s classified.” Albert says it softly, trying to be kind. Annoying or not, he knows Hardy is acting out of the loyalty Cooper inspires in a certain subset of decent people. 

Agent Hardy nods. Albert thinks he looks a bit sad as he leaves the morgue, but there’s no time for that. Back to work and on to the next thing.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on the singular moment where Agent Hardy calls Cooper 'Dale' during his inquest. It's probably just a continuity error for him to be calling Agent Cooper 'Dale' when you could count one one hand the number of characters who do that, but I'm going to role with it. 
> 
> And I continue to try to puzzle out what Cooper and Albert's canonical relationship is because it's really really messy. 
> 
> And what in the world is up with the episode numbering scheme for this show?
> 
> Concrit welcome.


End file.
